What Grows in Bethune, Colorado

USDA Zones 6a · 104 acres

Bethune, Colorado, sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.

The conditions favor cabbage, hazelnut, lavender, and collard greens, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Bethune, no two yards are alike.

A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single Bethune lot. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.

We read public map data around Bethune — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Bethune — the short answer

Bethune, Colorado: USDA zone 6a, about 182 days between hard freezes, across 104 acres of town.

USDA zone
6a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 21
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 20
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~182
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
104 acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.

Hardiness Zone Range

6a6a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)
Your USDA zone 6aSee the zone map →

Zone 6a is Bethune's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Bethune's 182-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Bethune

Each reading below is measured for Bethune itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

Measured

Bethune runs about 182 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.

There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.

Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.

Buying weeks at each end

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Bethune sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a.

The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.

Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.

How hardiness zones work

USDA PHZM 2023

The kind of country Bethune is in

Bethune sits in the High Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at Bethune's own centroid rather than borrowed from Kit Carson County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Bethune

Every plant below cleared Bethune's own zone 6a and its 182-day season. Each card opens that plant's Colorado profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in ColoradoZones 2–11Bethune's 6a — 4 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Colorado hazelnut guideZones 4–9Bethune's 6a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Lavender in ColoradoZones 5–8Bethune's 6a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Colorado growing notesZones 2–11Bethune's 6a — 4 zones of cold margin.
blackberry, photograph
Growing blackberry in ColoradoZones 5–8Bethune's 6a — 1 zone of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
Colorado california poppy guideZones 6–10Bethune's 6a is its exact cold limit.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in ColoradoZones 2–10Bethune's 6a — 4 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
Cranberry: Colorado growing notesZones 2–7Bethune's 6a — 4 zones of cold margin.
St. Johns wort, photograph
Growing st. johns wort in ColoradoZones 3–8Bethune's 6a — 3 zones of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Colorado kale guideZones 2–11Bethune's 6a — 4 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Pawpaw in ColoradoZones 5–9Bethune's 6a — 1 zone of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Turkish rocket: Colorado growing notesBethune's 182 days clear the ~90 it needs.
lentil, photograph
Growing lentil in ColoradoZones 2–11Bethune's 182 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Colorado okra guideZones 2–12Bethune's 182 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in ColoradoZones 2–11Bethune's 6a — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Colorado growing notesZones 3–8Bethune's 6a — 3 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in ColoradoZones 2–11Bethune's 182 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
Colorado azalea guideZones 4–8Bethune's 6a — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in ColoradoZones 3–8Bethune's 6a — 3 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Colorado growing notesZones 3–10Bethune's 6a — 3 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in ColoradoBethune's 182 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Colorado lilac guideZones 4–10Bethune's 6a — 2 zones of cold margin.
American bittersweet, photograph
American bittersweet in ColoradoZones 3–8Bethune's 6a — 3 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Colorado growing notesZones 6–8Bethune's 6a is its exact cold limit.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in ColoradoZones 3–9Bethune's 6a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Colorado ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Bethune's 6a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in ColoradoZones 2–7Bethune's 6a — 4 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Blue spruce: Colorado growing notesZones 2–8Bethune's 6a — 4 zones of cold margin.
alfalfa, photograph
Growing alfalfa in ColoradoZones 2–10Bethune's 182 days clear the ~100 it needs.
Canada wild rye, photograph
Colorado canada wild rye guideZones 3–8Bethune's 6a — 3 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Bethune?

Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 24; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 21 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 20 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. The tail of the season still works: sixty-day crops into late summer, quick greens after, garlic last of all.

What's on the federal record near Bethune

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Bethune. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. Tempel Grain Elevators LlpUnderground Storage Tanks · 1200 ft
  2. Bethune School District R-5Underground Storage Tanks · 1400 ft
  3. BOHNEN FARMS, INC.CAFO · 3.9 mi
  4. BURLINGTON FEEDERS INCCAFO · 4.5 mi
  5. SC00804503BDCNitrate · 5.4 mi
  6. CEDAR ROSE FARMS INCCAFO · 5.9 mi
  7. Ranchers & Farmers Livestock AucUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.0 mi
  8. New Holland BurlingtonUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.2 mi
  9. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE - BURLINGTONBrownfields · 6.6 mi
  10. Dale SlingerUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.7 mi
  11. Barry & Bill HinkhouseUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.1 mi
  12. Hitchcock IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.2 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Bethune's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.

Environmental Intelligence

The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Bethune.

Total Sites

83

within ~10 miles of Bethune

Risk Level

Moderate

Highest-severity

1 Toxics Release Inventory facility

Explore the live map
Underground Storage Tanks54Nitrate16Brownfields7CAFO5Toxics Release Inventory1

Sources Checked

within ~10 miles of Bethune

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Bethune

High0Moderate28Low55

Highest-Severity Sites

Alta #6142
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Amacks Service INC
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Ampride
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
By Food & Gas Mart LLC
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Burlington CO-Op
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Bethune, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Bethune — CAFO (5 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (54 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.

CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.

Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.

Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.

Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.

grow under coverwork your in-ground beds wiselybuild up with a clean-soil raised bedread your soil before you plantSee what's flagged near Bethune
Explore the contamination map around Bethune·Colorado Growing Guide
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Check your specific parcel in Bethune

Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Bethune average

Your land is one point inside Bethune

Everything above resolves to Bethune as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 104 acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at town scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better local average.

Your Lot vs the Bethune Average

Bethune Average

  • ●USDA Zones 6a, averaged across Bethune
  • ●One soil character for all of Bethune
  • ●Frost dates read at Bethune's scale: Apr 21 to Oct 20

YOUR Parcel

  • ✓Your exact zone, not Bethune's 6a
  • ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Bethune

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Bethune, Colorado — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Bethune averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Bethune averages 182Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Bethune — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Bethune average

How we know this about Bethune

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this town’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Bethune’s own record; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at town grain anywhere on this page — there is no town-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.

Common questions about Bethune

When does frost risk typically end in Bethune?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Bethune typically lands around Apr 21, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about May 12.

When is the first frost in Bethune?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Bethune typically arrives around Oct 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 6, so the watching starts about Sep 20 — about 182 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Bethune?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Bethune sees about 182 frost-free days — roughly Apr 21 through Oct 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 12 to Oct 6, about 147 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Bethune?

The federal record around Bethune shows 83 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (54), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out — a typical footprint for a growing area, and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. It's worth seeing which recorded sites sit closest to where you grow, and testing the soil before new food beds near any of them.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Bethune?

From about Sep 20 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Oct 20 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Oct 20. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Bethune's scale — its 6a band and its 182-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Bethune's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.

What this page reads at Bethune’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Bethune's own scale — its own ~182-day season between 28°F freezes, the 104 acres it covers and 83 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Bethune's own USDA hardiness band, zones 6aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Bethune's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 21 and Oct 20 and the ~182-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 83 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Bethune, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Bethune's boundary and the 104 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 6a and a ~182-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Bethune's own centroid, the High PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Bethune's 104 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Kit Carson County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Kit Carson County
  • The growing challenges every Colorado grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Colorado
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Kit Carson County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Bethune's 104 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
  • Which side of Bethune you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 104 acresreading your own microclimate →
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record →
  • Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any Bethune-wide figureread your own land →
The next step finer is your own address

More in Colorado

Kit Carson County Growing Guide·Colorado Growing Guide
USDA PHZM•NOAA Climate Normals•US Census TIGER•PRISM Climate•EPA FRS